This invention relates generally to toy vehicle playsets and particularly to those utilizing impacting toy vehicles known generally as crashsets.
Toy vehicle playsets are well known in the art and have proven to be an extremely popular and long lasting toy product. In response to this long term popularity, practitioners in the toy arts have provided a virtually endless variety of toy vehicle tracksets and toy vehicle playsets. In many toy vehicle playsets, toy vehicles are provided which are unpowered or free-wheeling while in other toy vehicle playsets, self-powered toy vehicles are employed. Many free-wheeling toy vehicles are acted upon by some type of accelerator or launcher to propel the toy vehicle down the trackway. The tracks and trackways themselves are also subject to considerable variety. However, most are generally formed of a molded plastic material or the like and define a road surface having side rails or guides raised on each side thereof. The sidewalls or guides function to direct the toy vehicle along the roadway. In many toy vehicle playsets, the trackway is formed as a closed circuit and the toy vehicles are operated in continuous laps upon the trackway circuit.
As the popularity of toy vehicle playsets continued to increase, practitioners in the art continued to direct evermore creative efforts toward enhancing the amusement and play value of such toy vehicle playsets. One type of toy vehicle playset enhancement utilized one or more stunts or tricks within the operation of the toy vehicles. A common type of stunt employed in toy vehicle playsets is often referred to a xe2x80x9ccrashsetxe2x80x9d. Such toy vehicle playsets acquire their name from the utilization of a plurality of toy vehicles operating upon common track segments and encountering various types of intersections which present the opportunity for collision or impact. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,967 issued to Halford, et al. sets forth a TOY VEHICLE GAME WITH LAUNCHER AND RETURN MEANS having a pair of track segments each having a vehicle launcher at one end and a rebound device at the opposite end in which the track segments cross at a common intersection. A pair of toy vehicles are launched by competing players down the track segments toward the rebound unit and pass through the common intersection. Players take turns attempting to either cause or avoid as the preference may be the occurrence of a collision at the intersection. A vehicle clearing the intersection rebounds off the rebound unit and again returns to the launcher through the intersection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,216 issued to Ostendorff sets forth a TOY VEHICLE CRASH SIMULATING PLAYSET having a launcher coupled to a track segment and a jump ramp together with a receiving ramp spaced from the jump ramp coupled to a simulated group of toy vehicles positioned within the travel path of the receiving ramp. Toy vehicles are launched from the launcher jumping between the launch and receiving ramps and thereafter traveling to impact the simulated toy vehicles at the end of the receiving ramp track portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,500 issued to Cooper sets forth a COMPETITIVE VEHICLE DEMOLITION GAME having a closed loop multiply intersecting toy vehicle trackway having a pair of separate vehicle lanes defined therein. A plurality of toy vehicles are operative on the trackway and are capable of impacting or colliding at the various intersections. The toy vehicles are fabricated of a plurality of parts maintained in attachment against a spring mechanism. When impacted, the mechanism releases the spring causing the toy vehicle parts to simulate an explosion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,292 issued to Fitzgerald, et al. set forth a DEMOLITION DERBY TOY in which toy vehicles are positioned on a game board and driven by means of a manually operated magnetic manipulator. The manipulators are positioned beneath the game board and are operated by each player. Each vehicle includes a plurality of identical removable elements which are released upon impact to scatter.
Another popular stunt apparatus for toy vehicle playsets is often referred to in the art as xe2x80x9cjumpsetsxe2x80x9d. Such stunt apparatus acquire their name from the utilization of one or more trackset gaps together with launching and receiving ramps for causing the toy vehicles to go airborne through the jump feature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,789 issued to Halford, et al. sets forth COMBINED JUMP MEANS AND TOY VEHICLE WITH SIMULATED STUNT HOOP having a supporting frame from which an annular stunt hoop is assembled. A toy vehicle trackset includes a launch ramp positioned on one side of the hoop and a receiving ramp positioned on the opposite side of the hoop. Toy vehicles are launched onto the jump ramp and thereafter traverse the span between the launch ramp and receiving ramp and pass through the open center of the hoop.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,867 issued to Hippely sets forth a TOY VEHICLE TRACKWAY SET having a jump station which defines a vertical loop coupled to a horizontal loop. The horizontal loop terminates in an upwardly directed ramp such that a toy vehicle launched into the vertical loop passes onto the horizontal loop and is launched through the opening of the vertical loop. A separate catching basket is provided to receive the jumping toy vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,843 issued to Ostendorff, et al. sets forth a TOY VEHICLE PLAYSET having a roadway, a booster for impelling a vehicle along the roadway, a ramp positioned in the roadway to provide a path for the vehicle to leap a predetermined distance, a catcher positioned in the roadway and a return portion slanted to stop the vehicle and return it to the end of the roadway at which the booster is situated.
Toy vehicle playsets utilizing free-wheeling unpowered toy vehicles typically utilize one of a variety of different types of toy vehicle launchers to impart energy thereto. Such toy vehicle launchers have been provided in a variety of different configurations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,030 issued to Ostendorff, sets forth a RAPID ACTION TOY VEHICLE LAUNCHER which provides a rapid fire launcher having a pair of magazine ramps feeding successive toy vehicles to the launching station.
Other examples of toy vehicle launchers are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,560 issued to Liu and entitled SPARKING TOY VEHICLE AND LAUNCHER THEREFOR; U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,973 issued to Rudell, et al. and entitled TOY CAR LAUNCHER WITH CABLE-DRIVEN SHUTTLE AND PULLEYS; U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,658 issued to Crosson, et al. entitled TOY CAR LAUNCHER WITH EXPANDABLE SCISSORS MEMBERS; U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,229 issued to McKay entitled TOY DRAGSTRIP AND STARTING TOWER; U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,540 issued to Convertine, et al. entitled COMPRESSED AIR PROPELLED TOY VEHICLE AND LAUNCHING SYSTEM; U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,303 issued to McKay, et al. entitled SHIFT CONSOLE INCLUDING MEANS FOR FEEDING AND LAUNCHING VEHICLES; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,437 issued to DeAnda, et al. entitled TOY VEHICLE STARTING AND LAUNCHING SET.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have to some extent improved the art and in many instances enjoyed commercial success, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for evermore improved, interesting and amusing toy vehicle playsets.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved toy vehicle playset. It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide an improved toy vehicle playset which functions to provide a crashset play pattern and which utilizes rebounding apparatus.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a toy vehicle crashset comprising: a toy vehicle; a base defining a surface and a periphery; at least one gate supported by the base having a pivot member constructed to guide the toy vehicle onto the surface; a toy vehicle launcher and a track segment coupled to the at least one gate, the toy vehicle launcher and the track segment and the at least one gate cooperating to propel the toy vehicle through the at least one gate and across a portion of the surface; a resilient barrier supported upon the base extending about at least a portion of the periphery; and at least one rebounder supported upon the base having a resiliently-driven impact-responsive ram, the toy vehicle crossing a portion of the surface and rebounding from impact against the resilient barrier or the rebounder.